notes.public

In the society I grew up in, hypocrisy was basically considered one of the biggest sins, because it’s one of the few things that can be “objective.” We can’t agree on what’s good or bad, so we can’t criticize people for doing bad, but we can tell pretty easily if someone is doing something besides what they say should be done, and then we can criticize them freely, and also usually ignore what they say should be done, especially if it was right.

However, by now, I think I understand why being a hypocrite might not be so bad after all. Mature adults tend to learn that the gap between fantasy and reality is a good one, and it is both good and reasonable to occasionally desire things that should not happen, and to be concerned about things happening which one occasionally desires.

A non-hypocrite is forced to eliminate any gap between their thoughts and their actions, even if their thoughts are imperfect, incomplete, idealistic, or most importantly, completely true but in violation of accepted social norms. In other words, society makes us all hypocrites, and to advocate the elimination of hypocrisy, is to advocate the breakdown of society.

Unfortunately, I’m not much of a hypocrite, but I am quite a weirdo, and this is a lesson I learned a little bit too late. So here’s my hypocritical suggestion: be more of a hypocrite than I am.